Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a practice tee apparatus for golf, and more particularly to an improved practice tee device which provides a platform which may be selectively adjusted both in angle and in orientation to thereby allow the user of the device to simulate a wide variety of uneven lies.
While the game of golf has been played for over five hundred years, recent times have seen a tremendous increase in the number of people around the world who play the game. As a result, while the number of golf courses has increased rapidly to accommodate the increase in the number of golfers, the cost of playing a round of golf has also increased. It has thus become increasingly difficult to learn the game while playing on the golf course, and most people learn the game and practice their swing on a driving range.
Driving ranges feature a number of golf tee areas each having an artificial grass mat mounted on a flat surface in front of a large open area, with golfers hitting a large number of balls from this tee area to practice their golf swing. While driving ranges thus offer golfers a relatively inexpensive way to learn and practice the game of golf, it will at once be appreciated that golf courses have rolling terrain, and thus the flat golf tee areas at driving ranges only allow golfers to practice their swing from a flat lie. It is, of course, desirable to practice the golf swing from uneven lies as well, such as when the ball winds up on a hill, or when the golfer must stand on an area which is not flat in order to hit the ball.
While it is of course possible to construct golf tee areas at driving ranges which are not flat, a fixed non-flat driving range surface will allow the simulation of only a single lie from among countless uneven lies. Thus, driving ranges for the most part have not provided such fixed non-flat driving range surfaces. As might be expected, however, the art is replete with a wide variety of different proposed solutions for this problem, and it is informative to examine several of the different devices suggested in the art.
The various devices taught in the art use a number of different approaches, but initially they may be characterized as either complex devices or simple devices. The simple devices are all manually adjustable, and are shown, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,420, to Bay et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,332, to Hughes, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,741, to Ahn.
The Bay et al. reference is a platform having adjustable legs located at one end thereof which are used to tilt the platform. The Hughes reference discloses a platform which accepts removable blocks underneath the corners thereof to tilt the platform. The Ahn reference teaches a small tiltable tee platform, which may be used in combination with a wedge-shaped base on which a golfer may stand. All three of these references, while simple and relatively inexpensive, are not acceptable for use in a driving range environment. The Bay et al. and Hughes references present only a single angle of tilt, and are tedious to adjust. The Ahn reference does not simulate a single non-flat surface on which both the golfer and the ball may stand.
The more complex devices fall into three separate categories. The first of these categories is a platform supported by a lockable universal mechanism, and is illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,127, to Kohori. The Kohori device is a platform supported by a swivel mechanism which is locked and unlocked by manipulating a handle. The golfer must actuate the handle, which is located close to the ground, by getting off of the platform. The universal swivel mechanism used by Kohori appears to be expensive to construct, and its long term durability in a driving range environment is less than desirable.
The second category of the more complex devices is illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,979, to Koett. The Koett device consists of either a single rotating wedge-shaped platform, or two stacked wedge-shaped elements which are independently rotatable. The single wedge embodiment is rotatable to provide a fixed angle surface with a variable orientation. The two wedge embodiment is far more interesting, since it allows the adjustment of both angle and orientation when both of the wedge elements are independently rotatable. The Koett device is electrically operated, and the golfer must step off of the platform to actuate a control to adjust the device. The adjustment can be quite complex, but offers a wide variety of simulated lies, and is suitable for use in a driving range environment.
Finally, the third category of the more complex devices uses powered actuators to move a platform in two degrees of freedom of movement, thereby allowing both angle and orientation to be varied, although not quite independently since both powered actuators must be independently adjusted to adjust the device. This category is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,917, to Anderson, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,918, to Smiley. Smiley uses electrically driven dual jacks to move a platform, while Anderson uses two hydraulic jacks to move a platform. These references share the disadvantage of the Koett device mentioned above, namely that they require two separate adjustments to be made in order to adjust the platform.
It is accordingly the primary objective of the present invention that it provide a golf practice tee apparatus having a mechanism allowing the adjustment of a golf tee platform in a single operation, with the adjustment allowing both the angle and the orientation of the golf tee platform to be set simultaneously. It is a related objective of the present invention that the mechanism facilitating the adjustment operation be simple, requiring only a single control element to bring about the adjustment of the golf tee platform both as to angle and as to orientation. It is another related objective that the control be located on the golf tee platform itself, and that it be operable without requiring the golfer to either get off of the golf tee platform or bend over.
It is an additional objective of the adjustment mechanism of the golf practice tee apparatus of the present invention that it be operable without requiring an external source of power such as electricity or fuel to operate it. It is a related objective that the operation and adjustment of the golf practice tee apparatus of the present invention be accomplished quietly, with essentially no noise which could disturb other golfers in the vicinity. It is a further objective of the golf practice tee apparatus of the present invention that the adjustment operation be entirely safe, and that there be no risk of injury to a golfer operating the adjustment mechanism.
The golf practice tee apparatus of the present invention must also be of construction which is both durable and long lasting, and it should also require little or no maintenance to be provided by the owner throughout its operating lifetime. In order to enhance the market appeal of the golf practice tee apparatus of the present invention, it should also be of relatively inexpensive construction, to thereby afford it the broadest possible market. Finally, it is also an objective that all of the aforesaid advantages and objectives of the golf practice tee apparatus of the present invention be achieved without incurring any substantial relative disadvantage.